Bolt's Soul Cronicles Book 1: Demonic Future
by cloudsword
Summary: Years after the incident with Dragoon, Bolt, Mittens and Rhino are thrown back into the hero business, except this time, Bolt has to fight not only aliens, but the last of Dr. Catzer's Experiments and himself. READ AND REVIEW!
1. Chapter 1 Return

**Soul Chronicles : Demonic Future**

**This is a sequel to my Warrior's Soul Books. I however do not own Bolt or any of its characters, Disney does!**

**Narration:**

Haven't you ever been so used to your way of life that anything different seems scary? My life was like that now, no villains no worlds to save, and now no one except Shadows to really push me. It had been years since the Neutrosian incident and now me and the large black cat just fight for fun. However we never actually try to hurt each other…any more. But when life throws you a drastic change, what do you do? Go with the flow? Fight it? Or do you sit there and complain about it? I'm an American white shepherd with a black patch on my left side in the shape of my name…

**Chapter 1 – Return**

"BOLT!" Mittens cried as she exited the house. The black and white Tuxedo cat hadn't aged a day, and you could see it on her shiny black fur as she walked into the sun lighting up the enormous yard. "BOLT?" she cried out again, glancing across the field in an attempt to find him. From out in the tall yellow grass, she could see a large spot of white lift up over the tops of the grains, revealing her husband's where about. Bounding quickly over the fields and laughing as he did, following just her voice to the house. Almost twenty yards or so from the porch there lay a fence, and the tall grass stopped. Though the rest of that grass was defiantly there yard, they left it tall so that their children could play in it when allowed. Except now they were grown up…for the most part. Bolt came barreling through the wall of grass strong and true, followed by Mike, their son, and Hazel their daughter, and like Mittens, never looked any older. Both children were around eight human years old, and rightly so. Their bodies aged like humans however due to their animal attributes, they matured quicker. Mike was a white puppy like creature only three quarters Bolt's size, he had black cat ears and what everyone called 'Chipmunk Stripes' that branched off of those ears and trailed down his back. Hazel was mostly cat herself, and was white with black tiger stripes trailing down her back and what looked to be Bolt's tail. "And, that's the race!" Bolt said coyly as he tapped his paw against the porch post, "I win!" he said and looked to Mike and Hazel. "I'm proud of you two, you didn't use your powers to try and win this time. You two followed the rules like real champions." Mike and Hazel both lifted their heads high, proud and tall. "Don't let it go to your heads." Mittens teased as she sat on her haunches, "Too much pride is one of the signs of a Villain." "Yes mother." the two of them said in unison. Mike's voice had deepened slightly, bringing him to a moderate level, and causing almost every human girl to fawn or swoon over it. He still hadn't really understood why that was. Hazel's voice though deeper in tone, still held an elegance to it, and her new confidence shined through even her quietist of sounds. "Where's Wolf?" she asked curiously. "He's on a D. A. T. E. remember?" Mike said. "It's more than what you have." a rough mid-ranged voice said from behind Mittens. Wolf stood nearly as tall as his mother, his head held high and his chest out, proudly showing off his grey fur and cat like face. "How was Mir?" Mittens asked suddenly. "What no 'hi son, how was your day,'?" he said, teasing her. "Nope!" she said, causing him to drop his jaw in disbelief. Bolt blasted out laughing as hard as he could, somehow his wife always had a way of taming their wildest son, but now she could do it with just a single word if she wanted to. "Well that's a fine 'howdy do,'!" Wolf said disgruntled at his father's behavior. "I…I'm sorry." Bolt said as he settled down, "She got you good!" "Yah. Heh! She and Mir are the only ones who can make me speechless." Wolf admitted. "You still didn't answer my question Wolf, how was Mir?" she said repeating herself. "Oh, Mir is fine." he said. "Is?" Mittens asked. "I'm right here Mittens." the heard a strong woman's voice say. "We all are." said a quiet high man's voice along with it. When Mittens turned around, there they were, Shadows the extra large black cat and his newlywed wife Sassy, the white cat with black stomach and paw fur. In front of them sat there children, Mir the white cat with chipmunk stripes that wrapped around her ears and touched the outside corner of her eyes, Anna, the perfect white cat, and Kevin, the grey cat with a white stomach. All three of them were nearly the size of their mother, though Kevin was just a wee bit taller. Kevin also was the only one to keep his head down and his ears flat against his head.

"Hi Kevin!" Hazel called out, and his ears quickly rose to their full height. "Hi Hazel!" he said and ran to meet her. Over the years, Kevin had grown up, no longer afraid of everything, his only fear was now hurting others by accident, so he kept whatever powers he used to a minimum, unless circumstances called for more. "Hey there Mike!" Anna smoothly said as she walked up to him, she no longer had that air of perfection or a snobby attitude, instead she was very protective of all of her friends and family, especially Kevin and her boyfriend Mike. She had never used her powers to hurt anyone, however she was nowhere near ashamed to display them to scare others into apologizing. "Hey Anna, how was the mall?" he asked. Mike had become like a teacher to everyone else, his brain was probably the most powerful of all of them. However he loved using it and his powers. He wasn't mischievous, but sometimes Bolt would catch him reading five books at a time, with him levitating all five, or even more. He had grown more intellectually than the others, however he always had trouble when he spoke, with his voice sending all teenage human girls around him into a dreamy daze. He had what they called 'the voice of a hunk' and Anna had already threatened four other girl so that they wouldn't take him from her.

Like Bolt and Mittens, Shadows and Sassy hadn't aged at all, their youth displayed almost eternally. "Hey there dog!" Shadows said with a scowl of disappointment written on his face. "What are you doing here Shadows?" Bolt asked, a practiced glare masking his face, and stalked up to the large cat. "Thought I'd stop by, got a problem with that?" Shadows asked as he too stood from his sitting position and walked towards the shepherd. Inches separated them as Bolt lifted his right paw, anger flared as he growled. Shadows at the same time lifted his paw, and extended his claws. "We'll see who has the problem!" Bolt said and the two…clasped their paws together, like two humans clasping their hands together in excitement. "About time you got here!" Bolt said as his false anger disappeared. "Good to see you too." Shadows followed with a laugh. "Boys!" Sassy said exasperated, Mittens simply chuckled. Looking at her family as they chatted, Mittens couldn't help but think of the past. How small the Kits were and how much they had gone through and the time she had almost lost Bolt, even to his own darkness. "Penny for your thoughts?" Bolt asked her, bringing her from her revere. Mittens turned to gaze into his earthy brown eyes, and smiled, "I'd be a millionaire with all the memories I just had." she informed him. Bolt laughed silently, relishing in the memories he had as well.

Before they knew it, night had fallen, even though Shadows really liked the night, he too fell fast asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. "Night guys." Bolt whispered as he looked at the group of animals. "Yah whatever!" Shadows mumbled in his sleep. Bolt chuckled at his friend and turned to make his way back to the bed that he and his wife slept. When he arrived, he saw her, basking in the moonlight's glow, the white of her fur glittering in the light it gave. 'I'm glad that Sassy got over me, and that she doesn't have her chameleon fur anymore.' he thought to himself. The moment he placed his paw on the plush pillowed comfort of his bed, Mittens reached out and placed her paws against his cheeks and kissed him. "Hello handsome!" she whispered as she broke free. "What was that all about?" he asked, but got his answer from the very look in her eyes. Saying nothing more, Bolt walked the rest of the way onto the bed and lined himself with her, "I love you." he said before kissing her again.

Elsewhere, men in what looked to be armored suits, charged through the desert, guns at their hips ready to fire when ready or necessary. Ahead of them stood what looked to be a large building, half buried in the sand. "The door is sealed shut." one of them said into their mask, relaying what they found to the others. They all nodded, and one close to the door pulled something out of a plastic bag. Unwrapping it quickly he pushed it up against the door, sticking it to the lock. "C4 should to do the trick." he said, and attached two wires before turning around and making his way with his team, to a safe place. The blast tore the door right off of its hinges, throwing it open to the inside. "That's how you open a door." he said proudly, and stood up to glance at the dark depths of the building. From inside the team could hear the deep breathing of something, "Sounds asleep." one of them said. "I'll go in, this is the last of Dr. Catzer's bases. We have to make sure there isn't anything left." he said and entered in. His team watched as he vanished into the darkness, silently, only his steps echoed through the building. Minutes later, the breathing stopped, and he called out, "What the hell is this thing? No! Stay back!" they heard, and gun fire was heard before the most sickening of cracks could be heard accompanied by his pained and shortened call, "Erraghhh…" "The hell just happened?" one of them asked, and pointed their guns into the darkness. From inside the blackness, red menacing eyes opened up, and glared at them with a low bloodthirsty growl, "OPEN FIRE!" one of them called out, and the lot of them pulled their triggers. No one heard it when they each screamed in bloody murder.

Bolt could smell smoke everywhere, billowing out of places he couldn't yet see. The colors bled in quickly like a rush of paint forming into the city, destroyed and burning to the ground. Shock covered his face as he glanced at the spectacle, "What happened?" he asked. "Good question." he heard Mittens say from behind him. Bolt turned around to see her and Rhino waking towards him. "I thought that I was in bed." Rhino said, "This makes no logical sense, and I have a level 4 IQ." "Maybe it's a dream?" Mittens said, trying to make any sense of the situation. "No dream little guardians." said a beautiful female voice from above them. When they looked up, they saw a strange sight, a mutant girl of cat like origins, stood high above the towering inferno, "This is my warning, this is the future I have for your people as they become either slaves or food to my people, and you have no hope of salvation." she said. As the shadow moved from her face, they could see not only was she similar to Catzer's cat men experiments, but she was a Siberian tiger, with large bat wings the same color as she was. "Just who do you think you are?" Bolt asked, all three of them taking a defensive stance. "I am Savage, leader of the Felarian race. The day I arrive on your planet, you and all your people shall bow before me, and I will execute you guardians as an example to your people." she said with a sickening smile and then, black. Bolt woke with a start, panting and breathing hard as he looked around. Next to him Mittens also tried to catch her breath and the children, all six of them stood around. "Dad, we have a problem." Mike said with a stern look.

**End of Chapter 1**


	2. Chapter 2 Defeat

**Special thanks to Heartless Demon Wolf for his Villain 'Nightmare'  
**

**Chapter 2 – Defeat**

"What problem?" Bolt asked. "I'm sure you know, that little vision you and Mom just had, Uncle Rhino had it as well. Kevin and I also picked up an 'Astral' type psychic wave at the exact moment you three had that dream." Mike said sternly, letting his father know he wasn't fooling around. "Wha…'Astral Type'? What does that mean exactly?" Bolt asked in confusion. Mike turned to Kevin with concern, "You better tell them, I might use too big of words. Besides, you're better at it than I am." Kevin nodded and made his way forward, "Well, Astral Type Psychic waves are basically mind waves that are emitted through subconscious telepathy. Basically someone enters your dreams and messes with them. This kind of Psychic power is completely harmless, because no one has ever been hurt or killed in their dreams, so the Psychic using this trick usually just sends a message to their victims to rattle them a little, make them worried about the outcome. It's amazing what a little misinformation can do." he said, hoping that his message got through to them. Bolt kept his gaze on the little kitten, wide eyed and amazed, "And…you can perform this trick?" Bolt asked. "Kevin shrank back a little, hoping not to be hated or rejected for his powers, "Uh…Yes!" he said shyly. "Huh." Bolt said, as if he'd found out where his owner Penny keeps the treats. "Cool, you don't do it to any one of us do you?" Kevin and Hazel Both blushed, turning away from the white dog. "Kevin?" Shadows asked, "Answer the question." only to get whapped in the back of the head by Sassy, without her claws extended. "OW!" he said and rubbed the offended spot. Sassy lifted her mouth to his ear and, after taking the hint, lowered his ear to her so that she could whisper the obvious answer into his ear. Shadows let his eyes go wide, "We'll talk about this later young man!" he growled as he slowly turned to his son. Kevin plopped his chin on the ground and covered his face with his paws. Hazel on the other hand, patted his back, trying to comfort him.

A loud and unearthly growl brought them all back down to earth, the growl of what anyone would call, a demon, "It came from outside." Bolt said and lifted from his place on the bed, before leaping over Mittens and running out the door. Shadows was the first to snap out of his surprise and follow Bolt closely. Mittens was the last one to make it to the door, and what she saw sent a frightening chill through her entire body, an animal shaped like a Rottweiler, pitch black in fur with blood red lining the inside of its ears and chest. On its face sat a mask made from the skull of an animal, an elongated snout with two inch long fangs and horns on its head. The entire head consumed by the mask, all except the lower jaw, the jaw made from nightmares and blood. The eyes behind the mask shined a devilish red, sending fear to all who looked at them. "What the…" Mittens asked in panic. "Mom." Mike whispered, "Don't look into its eyes, they make you relive or face your worst fears." "It was like she heard him, and didn't at the same time, the glow of the eyes far to enticing for her to resist. Yet when she did look into the creatures blood soaked eyes, all she could see, was the destruction of her family, the fear of being utterly alone again, by means of something much more sinister. Her fear rose quickly, filling her soul to the point where she was far too scared to even scream or look away from the thing. 'I can't move.' she thought to herself. All around her she saw her children, her husband, her family surrounding her, dead and bloody. 'No, this isn't happening!' she continued, until she heard a familiar voice call her name, Bolt's voice.

"MITTENS SNAP OUT OF IT!" he called as he lunged at the creature. It moved seconds before Bolt was able to tackle it to the ground, and glanced at him, laughing, "You are making this too easy. This hunt is not very entertaining." it said. The voice was smooth, like a madman's mind before he dives into his madness. Struggling to keep from looking into the alluring eyes, Bolt growled as ferociously as he could, "Who are you?" he asked. "Forgive me, I'm not up to par with these so-called manors, I am what Dr. Catzer called 'his Nightmare' so that shall be my name, "Nightmare'. For that is what I am, the nightmare of all who stand in my way." it said. He couldn't help it, Bolt looked at the eyes, finding himself being pulled into his own nightmare, "NO!" he shouted and lurched at the creature, grabbing hold of the mask with his teeth. Anger flared up as he glared at the creature, "Interesting, you run from your fear with anger, yet somehow only you can break my hold on you by force." Nightmare said, and shock erupted under the mask as he heard a second voice surface from Bolt's mind, "RIP HIM APART!" it shouted. Instead, Bolt pulled as hard as he could, trying to tear the mask from it, "What are you doing you fool? Kill him and kill him now!" the voice shouted. 'Evil and good, both separate yet both the same. Neither living without the other.' Nightmare thought and let his surprise subside, shaking his head violently, tossing Bolt aside. The moment Bolt was in the air, Nightmare released a mighty roar, a Roar that tore up the ground and pushed Bolt to the ground. "Gravity Manipulation, that's not possible with a sonic attack!" Rhino shouted. "What does that mean?" Mittens asked, "It means that Dad's going to get crushed if we don't do something!" Wolf shouted and ran towards Nightmare himself using his super speed. The masked creature turned to the Kit, and lifted his outside paw, catching the speeding Kit by the jaw, knocking him unconscious. "Leave him alone!" Bolt shouted and quickly jumped at Nightmare again. "Ah I see, does your family make you stronger, or is it a weakness?" the creature asked and tried to bight down onto Bolt's neck, only to fail when Shadows slammed into him. "Wowch!" the large cat called out as he rubbed his head. Nightmare had been knocked off of his feet, but only moved a few feet. "It's like hitting a cliff wall!" he complained, and blinked only to find Nightmare right in front of him, looking straight into his eyes. "Not this time!" Mir shouted, and tackled Nightmare with her sister. Anna dug her claws into the fur of the beast, burying them deep into his flesh, "Huh?" she said in exasperation, and jumped backwards. "That body, it's already dead!" she said and lifted herself up with her wind claws. Nightmare turned in a swift 360, flinging Mir off of him and to the ground in front of her family, "ENOUGH!" he shouted as he slid to a stop and roared again, causing the gravity around them to increase dramatically.

"This wasn't how I envisioned it!" Wolf admitted as the pressure continued to increase. He watched as his sister, Anna slammed into the ground from where she flew, "He's caught us all in this gravity field." she said after she caught her breath. Bolt struggled as the pressure grew, shaking at his knees as he got to his feet. "Impossible!" Nightmare shouted and roared again, doubling the gravity already there. Bolt struggled to stay on his paws, but the struggled cries of his family caught his attention first, he could see them all, pain coursing through their bodies, even as he struggled to stand. "Look at them, pathetic. You have the power to defeat him, so do it, it won't matter how many get hurt." the voice said, only to have Bolt buckle and drop to the ground, "What are you doing? You have the power." the voice cried out. "I'm not going to just save myself, I will think of a way to save my family and friends, I need them." Bolt told himself, only to be surprised by Kevin as the kitten floated into the air despite the immense pressure, his eyes shining a bright white. "What's he doing?" Wolf asked as he turned to his sister. "I don't know, he's never done this before." she admitted, and watched as her boyfriend erupted in a bright flash and everyone, including Nightmare felt weightless before blacking out completely.

**End Chapter 2**


	3. Chapter 3 Rediscovered

**Chapter 3 – Rediscovered**

Bolt hurt all over, every muscle in his body screamed for a release. His eyes shut completely for who knows how long, yet he also felt weightless, as if floating in space. Slowly and painfully, Bolt opened his eyes, at first finding everything blurry. The aria was dark, with a little light leaking through from somewhere. He blinked slowly as the pain faded, finding his vision clearing as he opened and closed his eyes. The first thing he saw was space, stars and moons floating around aimlessly around, and under him, was the ground of an asteroid. "What the…" he said and lifted his head from the ground. "Bolt where are we?" he heard Mittens ask from his left. When Bolt turned to face her, he found her, like himself, alone on an asteroid of her own. Looking to his right, he also noticed Rhino, just getting up, but in the same predicament. "I don't know?" he admitted, and walked to the edge of his floating rock. Looking down, he saw beneath them, a vortex of light that just disappeared into a black nothingness. "This is…" Rhino began in a shocked realization, causing Bolt to glance at him. Suddenly from below, a bright flash of color erupted, catching Bolt's attention. At first it was too small, but soon grew, brighter and brighter. Bolt turned from the light and shielded his eyes when whatever it was, reached them, floating in the middle of the three animals. "We meet again guardians." echoed a female voice from within the light. "Who are you?" Bolt asked, and the light faded to a much more tolerable level, revealing three Neutrosians, a warrior in silver armor, a Mage in a blue cloak with a wooden staff embroider with a large sapphire at the top, and what looked to be a scholar wearing brown leather cloths, tailored specifically for his profession, and thick rimmed circle glasses. "As you might have guessed we are the original three of power. Our Souls reside in the powerful form of the Warrior's Soul." the Solder told them, his voice soft yet strong, and moved towards Bolt, "You have been my guardian ever since we merged." "And you were mine." the mage said as she walked towards Mittens. "Let's not forget the student." the scholar said as he approached Rhino, surprisingly his voice was smooth and kind. "What do you want from us?" Bolt asked, curiosity surging through his eyes. "Our time has come, and our power is yours, but only if you use it for the right reasons." the Solder said. "We no longer have the strength to continue our fight, instead you must take our place." the Mage continued. "The choice is yours of course." the Scholar added. "What's the catch?" Bolt asked, doubt evident on his face. "The catch is that you use your powers for the benefit of others, not yourself." the Solder answered. "You watch over your world, leading Justice along the right path." the Mage continued. "You be the heroes that we couldn't be." the Scholar said, and lowered his head in shame. "Is that all?" Bolt asked, and all three of the Neutrosians nodded in unison. Bolt turned his eyes to his wife Mittens, "These powers would help us against Nightmare." he suggested. "And that Savage girl that's coming." Rhino said, reminding them of the impending doom. "Oh, yah." Mittens said, and looked to her feet. Steeling her gaze, she looked the Mage straight in the eyes, "To protect those I love." she said, and the Mage smiled. "To protect the future." Rhino added, causing the Scholar to smile as well. "I'm in." Bolt said and nodded to the Solder. The three Neutrosians walked towards their respective guardians, and shined again, enveloping all in their light. "Now, the test." they heard the Solder say, "Find each other, only then will your powers become their fullest."

Bolt once again opened his eyes in pain, but this time everything was white. He suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, waking him up completely. All he could see was snow and rocks, a large mountain of something in the background. "Where…am I?" he asked himself. Lifting himself to his paws, Bolt began his first steps, realizing only then, that he was alone. "This isn't good." he said to himself.

Mittens let her eyes flutter open, she had always been one to recover quickly, and this time she was glad of it. All around her, golden sand could be seen, telling her one thing, "I'm in the world's biggest litter box again." she commented, "How could I forget this view from all those countless missions you and I took through here, eh Bolt?" When she received no answer, she looked around, looking for everyone else, "Bolt? Rhino?" she called out. "Bolt?" she asked again, "Oh great, I'm stuck in the middle of the Desert, without Bolt." Letting her ears flop to the top of her head, she scowled, "This just gets better and better."

Rhino twitched in his sleep, his small body leaning against the inside of his Diaqurotioux Crystal ball. What woke him was a sneeze, a sneeze he produced. Letting his eyes slowly open and adjust, Rhino stretched and yawned, before getting upright and rolling his ball towards where he thought was home, only to find himself surrounded by stone buildings and cobble stone streets. The neighborhood was poor, probably in ruins, "Oh, Toto, I don't think were in Kansas anymore." he said, to himself. "Find each other. Huh." he repeated, "If that means what I think it means, then we've all been flung to different parts of the world."

**End of Chapter 3**

**Sorry it's such a short chapter, but I need to cut it off here or I'll spoil it for you.**

**Just for fun, let's see if you can guess where our three heroes are. Send a Review with your answers and I'll let you know if you were right. Remember this is just for fun!**

**Gotta Mosey!**


	4. Chapter 4 Mountain

Outside of Bolt's mind

_Inside of Bolt's mind_

**Chapter 4 – Mountain**

Bolt pushed as hard as he could against the wind, trying to keep himself from both freezing and keep moving forward. "Gerr, come on Bolt, you can do it." he told himself. Descending the mountain had been harder than he thought, the coming storm was kicking up snow, making his visibility almost impossible. "At least I blend in with the surroundings." he told himself before he tripped on…something. "_You need to listen to me this time._" the voice in his head said, "_We need to dig a burrow in the snow, like the humans make igloos. The snow will melt and freeze, reflecting whatever heat we have left back to us._" "No, I refuse to let you tell me what to do." Bolt said as he rose from the snow. "_Fine,_" the voice said, "_but I won't let you end your own life defying me, I still need you!_" Bolt could feel himself change, the pain as his mind closed on him. Looking towards his pawn, he could see the fur as it changed to black. Bolt then turned to his left side, and saw his bolt mark change to a crimson color. "What's going on!" Bolt asked, right as the change reached his neck, and hollered as it quickly crept over his face. Bolt opened his eyes revealing not his usual brown, they were now a bright red. "Relax Bolt!" the new creature said to itself, "I'll take over for now. Apparently I know how to survive better than you do." Turning to brave the storm until he found a spot under an overhanging rock facing away from the wind, then he dug furiously, until he buried himself under the snow. "_Who are you?_" Bolt asked from inside the monster's head. As it curled up, to stay put, it laughed, "I'm Dark Bolt, your sins in physical form." it said and closed its eyes to sleep. "Tomorrow we hunt for food, then we continue on our way." it said and drifted off.

When morning came, Bolt slowly, awoke, rested and warm. He stretched and yawned as he looked around. Everything was shiny and white, and he quickly remembered where he was. "It worked." he said, mostly to himself. "_Of course it worked._" he heard from inside he is head. "What?" Bolt asked and looked around, certain that the voice came from outside his head. "_He, heh. What's the matter Bolt?_" the voice teased, "_Still in shock at how powerful I can be?_" "It can't be!" Bolt said as he backed up, somehow finding the entrance of the small burrow he had made. "_Oh, it is. And I liked being in charge so much, I think I'll stay that way!_" Dark Bolt said, and Bolt found himself changing again. "NO!" he shouted, and concentrated, trying to fight the change. It seemed like no matter how hard he tried, it just kept coming, changing him and turning him black furred again. "I am better suited for the tests. You are just far too weak!" Dark Bolt said as the transformation completed itself. "Now, let's find some food." he said, and ran off, racing down the side of the mountain, in search of food.

When Bolt awoke, he found himself walking, or he should say, Dark Bolt walking, along a path down the mountain, wrapped in the fur of a large animal. "_What happened._" he asked himself. "I happened." he heard himself say, and found a black version of himself staring back at him. "You made taking over far too easy for me Bolt, this body of ours is rather comfortable." "_Where am I?_" Bolt asked. "You are locked up inside your own head, locked away from the world as I do what I see fit." Dark Bolt said to him. "_Wrong!_" Bolt shouted and attempted to move, only to notice that he was covered in chains. "He, he he!" Dark Bolt laughed, "You were dreaming again, reliving your sins and lies, each one wrapping you in the chains of despair." "_Why you…_" Bolt began, only to get laughed at again. "Me? I did nothing. These are **your** sorrows, this is **your** shame, I am **your** sins. Trying to deal with them the way you did, just locked you to the floor of your mind. So now, it's time I get us out of here and find the others." Dork Bolt declared. "_What do you want with Mittens and Rhino?_" Bolt asked. "What else, I'm going to use **our** wife any way I want, and take the Warrior's Soul for myself when I get board of them." "_**NO!**_" Bolt shouted, and heaved against the chains. Dark Bolt simply laughed, "Struggle all you want Bolt. It's not going to…" {SNAP} Outside, Dark Bolt stooped at the sound of one of the chains breaking. "Impossible." he said, and lay down to enter Bolt's mind. There he found the white shepherd tug with all his might, one chain flung across the room. "_No._" he said, "_This is __**MY**__ time!_" and jumped at Bolt, not wanting to let the dog escape. Biting down on Bolt's neck and legs, trying to get him to stop his struggle, instead it seemed as if the more he fought him, the more Bolt tried. {SNAP} another chain broke, and slammed into Dark Bolt, knocking him to the ground. Quickly, Bolt grabbed Dark Bolt by the scruff, and pulled him under the pile of Chains and wrapped one of them around his neck. Without even realizing it, Bolt slipped out of the chains, leaving Dark Bolt to bear the weight. "_My family isn't a toy for you to play with._" he said and turned, away. "_I will get out again Bolt, and when I do I will make sure you stay here, buried in your own sorrow and chained in your own weakness!_" he shouted, just as Bolt disappeared into the light. When Bolt opened his eyes, he found himself covered in the fur of a bear, and at the bottom of the mountain. "Did he really come this far while I was out cold?" he asked himself and turned to look at the distance. The mountain was the tallest he'd ever seen, except for Mt. Everest. "Where am I now?" he asked, and turned to look at the vast aria in front of him. "Either way I've got a long way to go." he said and began walking.

**End Chapter 4**


	5. Chapter 5 Desert

**Chapter 5 – Desert**

Mittens felt herself heat up quickly every time she went out into the sun. She ran as quickly as she could to the next shaded aria she could find and planned her next move from there. "Uh, what I wouldn't give to have my ice fur again." she said to herself, and remembered how it happened in the first place. "I can't believe simply thinking about the colder climates made my fur act up like that, it really saved Bolt and myself." she said, and looked to her paws, seeing no ice form around them. "Figures it isn't that easy." she said, and darted out to the next rock. The shade cooled the air down about twenty or so degrees, enough that she could feel it as she entered in from the sun. The rattle snake on the other hand, she could do without. "Jussst what doessss an animal like you think you're doing here?" the snake asked. Mittens looked at the snake in shock, quickly she shook her head and answered, "I'm trying to get through the desert before all of the hunters come out." The snake at first looked at her in surprise, and then laughed, "Good luck with that!" he said, and lifted his head, "The desssert isss three hundred milessss in every direction from here." Mittens chanced a look out from the rock, and quickly glanced out towards the direction she was headed, though she was smart enough to lift her paw and extend her Crystal claws right as the snake was about to strike. "I wouldn't." she warned and slowly looked to him. The snake had his mouth open wide so that his fangs were extended, and his eyes were in complete shock. "You!" he said as he came out of his stupor, "You've been here before." and dipped down to circle her. "What are you talking about, who are you?" she asked as she kept her eye on his head. "We've met before right here in the Ssssahra Dessssert, remember? And thesss time there'ssss no mangy armor furred dog to save you isss there?" "Wait? The Sahara Desert? I'm in the Sahara Desert?" Mittens asked in surprise, "Then that means…" she tried to think, but was forced to focus on the rattler when he tried to strike at her. Quickly she used a paw to swat him away and she backed up, when he struck again, she swatted him again this time with a bit of claw poking out. "Gyaaa!" he called out and reeled back for a strike. Mittens inched backward, trying to fine an escape route, only to find that she had been encircled by the reptile. "Nowhere to run and no dog to ssssave you." the snake said, and lunged forward. Mittens shut her eyes tightly and reached out with one of her paws, trying to use her claws as a last defense, but the snake never struck, instead when she opened her eyes, the reptile was merely inches away, his mouth opened as wide as it could go, and he was completely encased in ice. When she looked down at her paw, she found a white haze coming from her claws, and a familiar icy look to them. Instantly she felt cooler as her fur began to steam from the difference in temperature as well. "My claws." she whispered in disbelief. When the sand beneath her slowly began freezing, she jumped a little, and watched as the ice made its way out to the sun, where it stopped and turned into water that soaked into the ground, or instantly evaporated. Cautiously she crept to the thinnest part of the snake, and jumped over it effectively freeing herself from the hunter's grasp. Slowly reality struck, and she smiled just the same, "I can make it," she whispered to herself, and glanced around, "I can make it home!" she told herself, and took off in a dead sprint, never once retracting her claws in fear that they might not come back for a while.

From one of the highest sand dunes she could find on her trip across the desert, Mittens gazed around for something she could recognize. "Come on, that cave and oasis have to be here somewhere!" she said, and placed her paw above her eyes, shading her eyes from the sun. "Come on Mittens, where is the cave." she said to herself and looked around again. The steam the rose from her fur and claws drew attention from every kind of creature she could find, even a scorpion decided that staying close to her wasn't the best of ideas. She growled in frustration when she didn't find what she was looking for. "GRAAAA!"she called out, letting her scream travel across the desert floor. "Hey!" she heard a harsh whisper from below her, "do you want to attract attention you stupid…whatever you are?" Mittens jumped off of the sand dune, and circled it a bit, finally finding a decent sized cave. "Uh…Who's there?" she called into the cave, "Shhhh!" the voice said, "The children are asleep!" "OH!" Mittens whispered, "Sorry about that." From out of the animal sized cave, crawled a tan furred desert fox. "Just try to keep your voice down alright?" the fox asked. The voice was female, obviously the mother. "I'm sorry, I was just looking for an oasis." Mittens told her, "By the way, I'm Mittens." "Candice!" the fox replied. "And by now even an oasis would be dried up sweetie, sorry." "What do you mean?" Mittens asked. "The rain hasn't fallen for a while here, everything's been dried up." Candice said. Mittens dropped her ears in worry, "Oh no!" she said, "I won't be able to find my way home now." "Oh, don't cry!" Candice said trying to keep Mittens' hopes up, "Where did you say you were from?" Mittens sniffed once as she held back her tears, "Texas." she answered. Candice looked a little confused, "Is that what you call your cave or something?" "No," Mittens said, "I don't live in the desert. My husband and I used to come through here doing missions to stop a madman from dominating the world." Candice's eyes widened a little, "Oh wait, is your husband a small white fox with a thin tail?" she asked. "He's actually called a dog, an American shepherd to be exact, but yes that's him." Candice soon smiled brightly, "He saved me and my family from becoming that madman's next experiments, and gave my husband a good talking to about 'loyalty to your wife'." she said and looked to the sky. "The sun will set soon and all the big time predators will come out, why don't you stay here for the night, I promise that you'll be safe. You are that 'dog's' wife after all." she said and turned to disappear back into the den. Mittens sighed, and crawled into the cave herself, emerging in a much bigger area than she thought she was going to be in. In front of her she could see three sleeping fox pups, the mother, Candice, and a male fox standing to the side. "I'm Arthur." he said, "Candice tells me you are the wife of that animal that saved us." he said quietly. "Yup, that's me." she said nervously, "Mittens the cat." Arthur turned to Candice, "I thought you said that Bolt was a dog?" he asked. "That's what she said he was." Candice admitted. "It's kind of a long story, but yah, I'm Bolt's wife Mittens." she said and looked around. 'Why does this place seem so familiar?" she asked herself. Arthur stiffened his lip a bit and stood up to approach Mittens. Mittens didn't move, instead she let him approach her, and wasn't surprised when he sniffed her fur. "Yah, that's him, I'd remember that smell anywhere." "So she's telling the truth?" Candice asked. "I believe her, what with that speech he gave me about loyalty and all." Arthur said and turned around to go and lay down next to his pups. Candice turned to Mittens and whispered, "He's been such a big help after Bolt gave him that talking to, I just don't think I can survive without him now."

"I know the feeling, Bolt was the same way when I had our first litter." Mittens said. Candice looked to the cat in shock, "You and Bolt had children?" she asked. Mittens smiled, and turned to her, "The superpowers we got made us compatible with each other. We've been taking care of the Kits for around eight years now." she said and looked at the family that was curled up on the brush covered machine. Mittens' eyes opened wide as she realized just what they were laying on. "Is that…" she asked and walked up to the device. Arthur growled a little as she approached, but never once attacked her. Instead he watched her closely as she walked around the family examining the ground beneath them. "I don't believe it," she whispered, "it's the TIP!" she said with a smile? "TI…P?" Arthur asked in curiosity. "This is the machine Bolt and I used to go between here and our home, it hasn't been used in more than seven years." she said, and looked up at him, "I'm very sorry, but you'll have to move your sleeping area." "Give me one good reason why?" Arthur growled. "How about cause I said so!" Candice spoke up. "Candice…" he tried to argue but was instantly interrupted, "Arthur, Mittens is trying to get back to her family, and like you, she will do anything to get there. As a fellow mother, I can understand just how far she **will** go. The least we could do is help her, as thanks to her husband." Candice said. Arthur was dumb struck, he had nothing to say. Instead he sighed, "Uh alright. There's no changing your mind when it's made up is there?" he asked and nudged his children, who popped up instantly and laughed as they tackled him. "You little rascals!" he laughed and shooed them off.

It took some time and teamwork to get the TIP cleared, and Mittens hoped to heaven that it still worked. "Let's see." she hummed to herself. Arthur looked over her shoulder as she tried to figure it out, "First I punch in the coordinates of receiving TIP, then I…Start the energy transfer, that's right." she pulled a small lever and when it hummed to life, Mitten smiled in excitement, only to let it fall, "Or was it the other way around?" she asked herself and glanced at the board, "Yup, start her up then coordinates." she said and typed in her destination. "Huh, this thing doesn't seem overly complicated." Arthur said, and Mittens turned to him and his family. "I wish there were something I could do for you." she said, only to have Arthur shake his head, "Don't worry about it, just let us know if you need anything, we'll keep this thing in shape until you need it again." As Mittens climbed on top of the TIP, no one noticed as her claws changed from an icy clear blue to a deep flowing blue. "Alright," she said, "Just push the big button to send someone." she told him, and that is what he did, he used his paw to push the button. "Goodbye and thank you." Mittens said as she disappeared. "Wow," the pups said as she vanished completely, "Can we do that?" "No!" was the answer that came from their mother. Candice glared at the three, letting her final decision be known to them. When the pups looked to their father, he just smiled, "Mother knows best." was all he said. "AWWW!" the pup all cried, and curled up in their new spot only to hear what could be considered as rain start hitting the ground. "Would you look at that?" Arthur said as he stuck his head out the cave door, "Looks like helping her was good luck after all." What he didn't see, was an oasis not far from the cave that filled itself to the brim within seconds, much faster than the rain fall.

**End Chapter 5**


	6. Chapter 6 Valley

**Chapter 6 – Valley**

Rhino rolled his ball down the barren streets, the people glancing at him curiously as he passed by them. He gave them not even a glance as he focused on his track. 'Everyone is staring at me.' he thought to himself. 'No time to worry about that, I've got to focus on finding Bolt and Mittens.' Suddenly a smell hit his nose, seeping in from the vents in the crystal ball. "Ohhh that smells good!" he swooned and shook his head again. "No! Focus Rhino!" he told himself and rolled his ball away from the smell. "Mommy!" he heard from across the…street. "A little animal in a ball!" a little boy shouted as he pointed to Rhino and tugged at his mother's sleeve. The clothing seemed to be made from rags, and the women always covered their faces. Without a word, the mother pulled her son away and continued on. "Hmph!" Rhino huffed and rolled his ball even faster. Suddenly he stopped, and turned his head. His mind whirled with ideas, and he glanced around, finding a peddler with what looked to be antique electronics. His mind instantly made a list of every component in the items he witnessed the peddler reveal, and he quickly listed what parts those pieces could easily replaces. He spun his head around, and found that he could name every mineral in the side of a building and the amounts that helped stabilize the rock. Looking back to the peddler, he gawked only for a second, then smiled, "Oh, Rhino you are a genius." he told himself and rolled his ball to the Peddler's tent. Minutes went by as he took his time, moving everything he needed from the tent into a cart, and in mere seconds, turned two used hair driers into a small thrust engines. "He he he he!" he chuckled and switched on the engines. The cart rocketed away as the Peddler looked out from his tent, seeing the blur of the cart as Rhino escaped with his things. "That is the most interesting theft I've ever been a part of." he said. Rhino hollered as he rocketed across the valley, calling out his excitement, "Woooohooooo!" He didn't travel very long, as the two AA batteries he had shortly fizzled out, letting him slowly coast to a stop. "WOW! That was a rush!" he said and turned to dive into the cart, building whatever came to mind.

Mittens appeared as the O-TIP in Penny's Basement shined brightly, bathing the room in its brilliant glow. When the humming finally stopped, she stepped off of the platform, easily making her way up the stairs. The moment she entered the kitchen she knew something was wrong, the table had been destroyed, and the fridge overturned and emptied. The rest of the house was in worse shape, books torn, beds in more pieces than she could count, even the bathroom sink had been forcefully removed from the wall. "What happened here?" she asked herself. "I happened!" she heard from behind her. The shadowed voice frightened her, even to the point that she refused to turn around. Nightmare placed himself between her and whatever exit she had. "I knew you'd come back." he told her, "You had to. Where everyone else is I don't know, but all I want is you Guardians." "What do you want from us?" Mittens asked, fear paralyzing her. "I'm not sure actually, all I know is that I was created to bring you and Bolt to your knees. Then Dr. Catzer sealed me away, saying that I was far too dangerous, that I wouldn't even obey him. And you know what? He was right." Nightmare's breath pushed itself against the fur on the back of her neck, sending frightened chills down her spine as she just stood there, waiting. "But just in case I did escape, he implanted my instincts with one overpowering urge, to find and destroy the three of you." with that, he opened his jaw wide, placing her head between his jaws, and snapped them shut on thin air. Nightmare tasted the air around his teeth, "This seems to happen more often than not." he said and turned to stalk out of the house.

Back in the valley, Mittens opened her eyes, shaking violently as tears traveled down her cheeks. "Mittens. Are you ok?" she heard Rhino ask. Quickly she turned her pointed black ears, and then slowly her head to him. "Rhino?" she asked softly. "That's me!" he said, pride showing in every inch of his pose, "You, alright?" he asked again, worry quickly flooding his persona. Mittens slowly nodded, and looked out to the horizon again. "Where's Bolt?" she asked. "Not sure!" Rhino told her then looked to the GPS he rewired to a boom box, "It looks like he's in Antarctica, near a research base." "Can you take us there?" she asked. "Yah, but I can't get us back. The watch battery in my transporter only has enough power left for one trip." he said pointing her to a black sports watch wired up to a toaster, a radiator, a calculator and a bug zapper. "I don't care!" she said harshly, her tears pouring out even faster, "I just want to find Bolt!" she was just about ready to cry, when Rhino punched in the coordinates on the calculator and closed his ball. "You got it." he whispered, and touched the outside of his ball to her fur, just as the two of them vanished. The moment the two of them disappeared, the machines Rhino had built, literally fell to pieces.

**End Chapter 6**


	7. Chapter 7 Reunion

**Chapter 7 – Reunion**

Bolt pushed against the snow, making his way to the shed he spotted every time he jumped into the air. The soft snow only lay on the top two inches and everything else could be considered hard or ice. Never the less, he still sunk all the way past his head every time he took a step. "I hate the mountains!" he called out and jumped again, finding himself only a few yards away. Seconds later he pushed himself out of the snow and onto the elevated porch of the shack. The second he was free of the snow, he shook off, throwing snow and ice every which way. A shock of warm air hit him as he pushed the door open with his nose, 'The lock must be broken.' he thought to himself. He glanced around as he entered, using his back leg to shut the door behind him. From what he could see, the shed was a living aria, a bed sprawled out on one side, while a small mach kitchen was made to the other. Near the back of the room was a slightly closed door, probably leading to a kind of office. The table was clear meaning that whoever was here wasn't anymore. Once again Bolt shook wildly, trying to get the melting ice off of his fur, and he heard the distinct clack of a Diaqurotioux Crystal ball. "Bolt!" Rhino hollered as he rolled up to the dog. "Rhino!?" Bolt asked and ran up to his friend, Bolt crouched down on his front haunches, eyeing the hamster, before bouncing around him happily. "I can't believe it!" Bolt shouted, "You're here! Have you seen Mittens?" "Yah, she's on the bed!" Rhino told him, and with one smooth motion, Bolt turned around and ran to the bed before jumping up and stopping dead in his tracks. What Bolt saw was something that constantly broke his heart, Mittens was curled up, shaking and crying wildly. "Mittens?" he asked gently as he walked up to her and placed on of his paws to her shoulder. Quickly she uncurled herself and wrapped her front legs around him, holding him tightly and burying her soaked furry cheeks into his chest fur. "Mittens?" Bolt asked worried what might have made her upset. "I was so scared!" she whispered to him. "I'm here now Mittens," he tried to say, and wrapped his own front paws around her. Mittens tightened her grip on him, "When I got back home, Nightmare was waiting for me, and I couldn't move." she told him. Bolt remained silent as he listened, "The memory," she said, her tears flowing even faster, "my fear, it all came back when I heard his voice, I froze." she told him and tried to bury her face into his chest fur even more. "It's ok Mittens, from now on I'll protect you from him. He won't get past me, I promise." he told her. "I' m still scared." she said through her tears. Bolt kept silent, instead of saying anything, he tightened his embrace and rubbed the underside of his chin against the top of her head. "I'm going over here!" Rhino said as he turned his ball around, he pushed against the other door, entering into the office room and closed it behind himself. "I felt so alone!" Mittens cried into the white Shepherd. Bolt finally pulled her away from him, but only to look her in the eyes, "You're not alone anymore." he told her, "I'm here, Rhino's here, and we won't leave you alone ever again." Mittens let a few more tears fall to her cheeks, "Promise?" she asked. Bolt kissed her on the lips, calming her nerves a little, "Promise." he reassured her when he broke apart. Mittens bit her lip a little, and then pushed her head in to kiss Bolt more passionately.

Inside the office, Rhino rolled around, looking for anything he could find. On the desk seemed to be a typewriter, as well as a few other non-electrical equipment. "How does this place have heat but no electricity?" he asked and rolled his ball further back. "There can't be any hot springs, they'd have melted this part of the region." His search quickly yielded a propane tank, hooked up to a radiator. "Huh," he said, "Brilliant." With that he shook his head, "Still gives me nothing to work with." and with that he turned and opened the door to his ball. He quickly crawled out and scaled the desk. The papers he saw scattered across the surface told him of the person's studies. "Oh, an Echo Biologist!" he said and turned back to the papers. "Let's see, studying penguins and their behavior, along with marine life and Geological aspects of this region. This person is very thorough." he complemented. Next he turned and reached down to open the drawer directly below him. When it didn't budge he just screwed his face up, "You think you can out muscle the great Rhino?" he asked the belligerent drawer. When he didn't get an answer, he reached into his mouth, and pulled from his cheek a device no bigger than his hand. He located the keyhole and tossed it inside, and with a pop the drawer scooted open a few inches. "Take that!" he said and continued to push the drawer open until he could easily crawl inside. "Let's see…paperclips, a pencil, some rubber bands, a butterfly hairclip, twine…" he listed off. Sticking his head back out of the drawer with the roll of twine in his paws, he scowled, "Still nothing electrical, not even battery powered." he said and tossed the twine up before he lifted himself, painfully, to the top of the desk. "HUMPH, I need to go on a diet." he admitted and lifted himself up to his paws. Grabbing the twine, he tied it to the outside of the typewriter, and tossed the twine over the desk down to the floor. Quickly he slid down to the lower drawers and pulled them open using the strength of his own paws, which took a while. "I need to build a miniature weight machine for hamsters." he huffed as he sat atop the open drawer, then turned around and looked inside, "Jackpot!" he said as he dove into the space, and threw out a small digital camera and three sets of batteries. The next thing he threw out was a small tape recorder, with a cassette still inside. Next, a scientific calculator was thrown out. Rhino then popped his head out of the drawer and rubbed his paws together, "Oooohoho, the things I can make with these!" he said and was about to drop to the floor when he heard something, the sound of the door opening. "What the…" a female voice said, "When did this dog and cat get in here?" "Well," Rhino said to himself, "there goes my invention." With that, he dropped down to the floor to exit the room and meet the owner of the building.

**End Chapter 7**


	8. Chapter 8 Winter

**Chapter 8 – Winter**

Bolt snuggled tightly to Mittens, wanting nothing more than to chase away her fears. The crying she did before hand was so difficult to bear, he almost cried himself, but now she was calm, asleep and next to him. He heard the door open and felt the cold air his fur. Apparently Mittens felt it to because she pushed her paws against the covers to snuggle in closer to him and fell right back to sleep. 'Nightmare can't have followed us here, we didn't even leave a scent trail…did we?' Bolt thought to himself as he slowly opened his eyes. "What the…" he heard a woman say, and his eyes opened all the way. She was short but anything except petit, wore a thick fur orange coat and mittens, most likely to stave off the cold and had thin circle rimmed glasses over her baby blue eyes. She also wore thick orange pants, most likely for the snow, and thick black winter boots on her feet. "When did this dog and cat get in here?" she asked in a kind of surprised huff. "SHHHHH!" Bolt shushed. The girl was surprised to hear a talking dog to say the least, "Don't wake her." he whispered. Mittens shifted in her sleep again, only to push her head into his chest and fall back to sleep. The girl pointed at him, shock settling in, "You can talk." she squeaked. "How long have you been out here?" he asked, "Everyone knows about us."

"Bolt the super Dog, Mittens the Magic Cat, and me, Rhino the Genius." the two of them heard the hamster say as he rolled his ball into the room. Bolt simply looked at his friend, and chuckled, "The most tech savvy Hamster in the world." he said with a smile. Rhino glared at Bolt teasingly, "You try building a matter transmitter and see how far you get." he challenged. "Eh, not my thing." Bolt whispered smoothly. "Wait, I remember hearing about you two on the radio once." the girl said, "I thought it was a book reading." Bolt and Rhino looked at her as if she was crazy, "I know, I should have figured it out, they've never done book readings on that station." she said. "Who are you?" Rhino finally asked, trying to seem tough and skeptical, "I'm Mina, Mina Winters."

"The scientist?" Rhino nearly shouted in excitement. "SHHH!" Bolt shushed quickly. "Oh, sorry." Rhino apologized, "I've read all of your news paper articles. Though I find it rather difficult to believe that the land mass is actually shifting back into its original geographical location from Pangaea." Mina the placed her hands to her hips, glared at the hamster, and then to Bolt, his 'don't you dare wake her' look planted firmly on his face. "Let's take this to my office." she whispered and shut the door. Rhino rolled his ball back into the other room while she removed her gloves and coat. She was rather trim and as shown even through her coat, had a large bust size. Her purple and grey stripped shirt did almost nothing to hide it as she excitedly skipped into her office to debate quietly with the little hamster with the big brain. "Heh, maybe she can get us out of here." Bolt whispered to himself and settled his head back down to encircle Mittens and go back to sleep.

Several hours later Mittens finally shifted in her sleep, waking Bolt up as she awoke herself. Bolt lifted his head and yawned deeply before Mittens could lift her own head, and uncurled her front legs to stretch out. Bolt licked her on the side of her head twice before asking, "Feel better?"

"Yes" she yawned and turned to him to lick his cheek, "Thank you Bolt."

"Any time." he responded and rubbed his cheek into hers. With another yawn, Mittens looked around the room, "Where's Rhino?" she asked. Bolt looked to the door that leads into the office, "In there with a girl named Mina Winters."

"The scientist?" Mittens asked. "Am I the only one who hasn't heard of her?" Bolt asked. "Probably." Mittens laughed, "Rhino's been bugging everyone with her articles for almost eight weeks now." The two of them fell into a comfortable silence, simply enjoying each other's company, "We can't stay here." Bolt finally said, bringing up what he knew Mittens didn't want to hear. Mittens pulled her head away from Bolt to look the dog in the eyes, fear driving her actions again, "Why not?" she asked in a small panic. "Mittens, you know the answer." he told her. "No," she said, trying to convince herself, "I don't know the answer Bolt, why can't we just stay here where it's safe?"

"Because we have to stop him Mittens, and that crazy alien that wants to concur us." he said, concern and determination both swirling in his gaze. "Why do we have to be the heroes again?" Mittens asked, her tears once again falling to her cheeks, staining her fur. "Because Nightmare won't stop until he finds us, and we are the only ones who have the power to defeat him." Bolt reminded her. Mittens bit her lip, thoughts of other plans running through her head, "We could just run away to Neutros." she suggested, the shame in such a plan keeping her from looking her husband in the eyes. Bolt sighed, wrapping her up in his paws as he brought her face into his furry chest, "If you want to, but we might as well just take care of him on the way there," he finally said, trying to comfort his wife, the tuxedo cat. "Yah," she whispered, "might as well." and wrapped her own paws around his waist, holding him as tight as she could.

Rhino waved to the human scientist as he rolled his ball on top of the snow, "By!" he shouted, "Keep in touch!" Mittens smiled mischievously, her eyes lowering themselves to half way as she glanced sideways to her hamster friend, "Sounds like someone has a new girlfriend." she teased. Rhino turned to her with both a hurt look and an angry one, "Hey, it's not my fault we broke up." he said in his defense. "Yah it is Rhino, you started spending way too much time in the basement with your 'mad scientist' projects, and you nearly blew her up once. So she broke it off with you." Bolt told his friend. "Wha…but…I…" the hamster stuttered as he stopped in his tracks completely awestruck that Bolt didn't support him in his decision, "That's not my fault!" he finished and ran to catch up with his two friends, "Yah it is Rhino." Mittens said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Rhino folded his paws, refusing to admit fault or talk about it further. Bolt and Mittens both started chuckling to each other, "You don't think Mina would go out with me do you?" Rhino suddenly asked, causing the two of them to start laughing again.

Bolt stood on the deck of the ship as it sailed across the nearly frozen waters, he just stood there, letting the cold breeze of the ocean both wake him and clear his head, 'So much has happened,' he thought to himself, 'Nightmare, and now this Savage girl.'

"_Mittens is right you know._" he heard from inside his own mind. 'What are you doing here?' he asked as his darkness rose up. Bolt could fell the power of his own sins enveloping him as he stood there, "_Why should we be the heroes?_" Dark Bolt asked. Bolt focused as hard as he could, holding the black power down. "_He he he, you think that will subdue me?_" the black incarnation asked, and Bolt watched as his own shadow lifted up to take the same form he remembered Dark Bolt having, "What?" he asked in surprise, right before his dark half lunged for him at speed matching Bolt's. The teeth that wrapped around the back of his neck were like vices, and with a single second of immense power, Dark Bolt hurled him up to the front of the boat, startling every one of the sailors that manned the ship. Bolt tried to lift himself to his feet, only to be once again tossed aside by Dark Bolt. As he lay there, every man pulled out a pistol of their choice, and began firing at the black dog. The bullets did nothing at all to him, he simply lifted his malicious eyes at the nearest man, and jumped at him, grabbing a hold of the front of his shirt and spinning the man in a circle before deliberately throwing him over board. "Man Overboard!" one of the sailors called out, "Man O…" he tried to call again, Dark Bolt slammed himself into the man, toppling him over the railing of the ship. Dark Bolt once again dashed to try and throw another poor soul into Davy Jones' Locker, only to be stopped by Bolt himself slamming into his side, "Stop!" the white shepherd shouted as he stood there, "Why are you doing this?"

"Because you don't have the strength to win this, and I'll prove it. Once you lose to me, I'll be in control of our body, and do as I see fit with every living thing." Dark Bolt said as he smiled maliciously. "Not me." he heard from his right, and turned to find the Captain standing there defiantly, "I'll defy you all the way."

"Oh really?" Dark Bolt asked, and again, was slammed into by Bolt. "Knock it off!" the white dog shouted. "Gladly." his dark half said, and stood up before running head first into Bolt's head. The super dog flinched in pain and lifted his paw to rub his head. Dark Bolt then grabbed that same paw and bit down hard, dragging Bolt to the floor and releasing him to grab him by the neck and toss him across the long part of the ship again. The shepherd skid across the deck, coming to a stop only when he had Dark Bolt's paw placed on his neck, choking the life from him, "Ha, I am the stronger one Bolt, compassion is a weakness that should be ignored." the black dog said, and stood there unflinching as the humans aimed and fired their guns at him, letting the bullets get caught in his armored fur. It seemed as if the black shepherd increased his pressure, Bolt losing consciousness until, "BOLT?" he heard Mittens shout. 'Mittens?' he thought to himself. "Bolt, where are you?" she called out again. Bolt once again tried to release himself from the grip of his captor, Dark Bolt only slipping once from Bolt's neck allowing the dog to regain some breath. "Give it up!" Dark Bolt growled, failing to notice that the gunfire had stopped, "There is nothing you can do to win this!" He just as quickly felt a sharp pain in the back of his head, and toppled across the floor.

"Who are you?" he heard Mittens yell. Dark Bolt reached to the back of his head, felling the sting of broken skin and seared fur before bringing his paw around to look at the blood that stained it. He growled loudly, and slowly lifted himself up to look at her, flame claws and all, "You'll pay for that!" he snarled, and tried charging at her. She jumped over him, causing the black dog to skid across the floor of the deck, and slide over the exposed side. Down he fell, tumbling until he slammed into one of the railings and was knocked into the water below. The minute the water hit his fur, he felt the heat in his body retreat, and his strength disappear. He changed, vanishing in a dark haze as the icy waters seemed to claim him.

Bolt simply lay there, breathing in the fresh chilled air as he filled his lungs again, "Are you alright Bolt?" Mittens asked as she walked up to him. He coughed once, "Yah, thanks to you." he said. "Who was that?" she asked as she helped to lift him up to his paws. "I…" he began, and then second guessed himself, "I wish I knew." Mittens then ushered him inside the cabin, getting him to rest.

The fallen sailors recovered and the ship secured again, they once again sailed towards their home land. "Thank you captain!" Bolt said as he exited the boat behind Rhino and Mittens. "It may be none of my business, but I must ask, why didn't you just tell her?" the captain asked as the two fallen sailors were rushed off of the boat and to a hospital. "About what?" Bolt asked. "Come now, we all heard what that black dog said. He's the darker version of you, so why not tell your wife about it? Maybe she can help." the Captain suggested. Bolt turned his head to the floor, "Because if she knew, then he'd kill her." Bolt said simply, and descended the plank to join his family. "_You know me so well!_" he heard from the back of his mind. 'You, but I saw you fall into the water!' Bolt thought in surprise. "_You can't get rid of me that easily,_" Dark Bolt said, "_and one day, I'll get out for good, just you wait!_"

'I'll never let you hurt her!' Bolt told his dark half. "_Trust me, once I get out of your chains, you won't have a choice!_" Dark Bolt nearly growled. "You ok Bolt?" Mittens asked, interrupting his argument with himself. "Huh?" he asked at first, "Oh, yah, just thinking." he lied. "About what?" Mittens asked. "The kits." he said smoothly, it disturbed him how easy it was for him to come up with a cover. "Yah," Mittens said, "I miss them too." and pushed her light tears into his chest fur.

"RHINO!?" they all heard as they reached the main street. "Oh, no!" he groaned, and turned around to see a very angry winged Neutrosian flying low to meet them. She now wore a pair of worn blue jeans and a green long sleeved top with the back cut out of it. Around her shoulder was a dark brown leather bag that looked as quite strikingly like a small travel case. "You two separated on good terms right?" Bolt asked in a whisper as he leaned his head down to the hamster's level. "Well…" Rhino tried to say, and was interrupted by Angelira. "What are you doing here, come to ask me to take you back?" she asked. Her tone of voice and folded arms suggested that she was doing just fine without him, but Mittens knew better. "As if," the hamster responded, "You broke up with me remember?"

"Well it was your idea to nearly incinerate my wings!" she said, "I still have a few scars to prove it!"

"I said I was sorry!" he told her. "This is going to be good!" Mittens whispered to the confused white shepherd. "Well 'SORRY' still isn't good enough." she told him and turned around, before shining white and shrinking to his size. "You did it again!" he said sarcastically. "Did what?" she asked and turned around, completely oblivious as to her new size. She opened her eyes in shock as she stared at his feet, and looked up to find him at her eye level, and stomped her foot as she growled in frustration. "DON'T LAUGH!" she yelled at the chuckling Rhino. "You were right, this is good!" Bolt whispered to his wife.

**End Chapter 8**


	9. Chapter 9 Nightmare

**Chapter 9 – Nightmare**

Rhino followed closely to Bolt, a miniature Angelira floating close behind. Her arms crossed and an angry pout on her face, she skillfully kept her body in a vertical position as she flew behind him. "So, Angelira? What brings you to the port?" Bolt finally asked, breaking the awkward silence between the four of them. Angelira took the chance, flying to be next to Bolt's head before answering, but if she were to be honest, it was more or less so she didn't have to look at Rhino, "I'm um…here to…travel!" she said in a kind of strange awkward stammer. "Really?" Bolt asked, "Some kind of business trip?" Bolt asked as he turned to Mittens and smiled. "Yah, you could say that." she replied. Bolt glanced at his wife again, the look of mischief in his eyes told her that he knew better. "What kind of business?" Rhino asked, he had bought what she just said. "Oh, I'm a journalist!" she said smoothly, "I go around the world looking for stories!"

"I've never read any of your work." Rhino said, "Did you have a column or something?" Bolt nearly belted out laughing, but somehow managed to keep it hidden through a very tense smile, Mittens just looked to the hamster with a look that said she what she thought, that he was completely oblivious, "Well, either way, I think you've found your story" the cat said. "Really?" the miniature Neutrosian asked. "Yup!" Mittens confirmed, and lifted her paw from the ground after stopping, out came her fire claws, "We've got our powers back!"

"I hope yours came with common sense this time!" she said as she turned to Rhino. Bolt couldn't hold it in any longer, he just laughed out loud with Mittens at his side, "I'm serious!" Angelira said as they laughed, "I know but…" Bolt tried so say, "…it's just, so funny!" Bolt and Mittens continued to laugh. "Ah, thank you Angelira!" Mittens said as the two of them finally calmed down. "Uh…you're welcome?" she mostly asked in worry. "Things have been really stressful lately." Mittens told the Neutrosian a she used her paw to wipe away tears, "First we get a strange call from an alien named Savage and then this creature named Nightmare comes out of nowhere and gets closer to killing us then Dragoon ever did."

"Nightmare?" Angelira asked in both confusion and worry. "Have you heard of him Angel?" Rhino asked, instinctively using an old nickname that helped calm her down. "Kind of…I think." she responded, "And don't call me Angel!" Rhino simply lifted his paws up, silently saying that he was sorry, "It was something Catzer kept talking about while he was on the ship, you know, the one you guys blew up to save your world?" she reminded. "_I remember that._" Bolt heard Dark Bolt say, "_Good times._" That response almost made Bolt feel sick, 'Most of those Neutrosians were clueless and innocent, how can you take pleasure in that?' Bolt thought, to which Dark Bold simply chuckled happily as he ignored the hero, gleefully remembering the sight of the explosion. "He called it the 'Dead Mask Project'. It was supposed to be some kind of parasite that kills its host before taking over the body's neurological receptors, reanimating it as if it were a zombie or something." Angelira told them. "Huh?" Bolt asked, "So, the creature is already dead?"

"_What, already dead?_" Dark Bolt asked in surprise. "More or less, but the project had hit some sort of dead end." she replied, "The parasite kept dying inside the host within minutes, although they only had Neutrosian animals to test it on, and even one Neutrosian, but that lasted even less time than the animals."

"So what would happen if it incubated inside of an Earth animal for say, eight to ten years?" Mittens asked. "Well, let's see…" Rhino began, and turned to the side, tugging gently on the whiskers on the right side of his face, "Uh oh," Angelira said in exasperation, "Now you got him thinking deeply." Bolt turned to the winged Neutrosian in confusion, "How do you know?" he asked, "He always does that when he thinks!"

"Not really, he only tugs on one whisker at a time when he thinks, it's all of them at the same time when he's in deep thought." she told him. "You sure know a lot about him, are you sure you don't want to date him again?" Mittens asked. Before she could hide it, Angelira blushed a bright red, and turned away, "Yah!" she said forcefully, "I'm sure!" Both Bolt and Mittens turned to each other with the same mischievous look, "Denial!" Mittens said to which Bolt nodded in agreement. Angelira turned to them angrily, her face now flush from both embarrassment and anger at the same time. "_Dead and reanimated?_" Dark Bolt asked, "_I wish I could do that to you!_" Bolt simply lowered his eyelids in response, refusing to answer the morbid creature inside him, "Did Dr. Catzer ever say anything about giving the parasite powers?" he asked. Angelira placed her hand to her mouth in thought, "Well, he did say that the creature it infected gave it different powers based on the kind of animal it was." she said, and turned back to Rhino as he exhaled. "This isn't good!" he said. "What?" Mittens asked in worry. "Listen to me very carefully Bolt!" he said as he turned to the white shepherd, "Was Nightmare at all worried when you fought him?" Bolt tilted his head in thought, letting his large ears flop against his head, "Well, not really, just when I was pulling on the mask." With a snap of his claws, Rhino pointed to the sky, "I got it, the dog isn't Nightmare, the mask is!"

"Rhino, has this mad scientist obsession finally gotten to you?" Angelira asked. Rhino turned to her in an annoyed anger, "No!" he said, and turned back to Bolt, "The mask is actually the parasite. This parasite resides as a solid mass until it enters the blood, most likely through the nose. It then takes over the body as it dies off and reproduces again on the outside, the mask!"

"And if we pull the mask off?" Bolt asked. "Nightmare becomes helpless, he can't do anything as long as the parasite has no host. One of the disadvantages of being a solid mass outside of the body." Rhino said, puffing out his chest in pride.

"Hey guys, check this out." they heard from behind them. Bolt turned around quickly, spying a group of almost ten men, each dressed with a large black jacket and red bandana somewhere on their body. Each of them in a confident pose, "Looks like we got us a couple a heroes!" The one up front stood tall, his fist covered by his fingers while he cracked his knuckles in an attempt to intimidate the animals. It only really worked on Angelira, causing her to squeak and hide behind Rhino's crystal ball. "What do you want?" Bolt asked with a growl. "_Isn't it obvious?_" he heard Dark Bolt asked, "_They all want to die!_" Bolt tried his best to ignore the voice in his head as Rhino spoke up. "What do you want?" he nearly growled. "Aint it obvious mutt?" one of them said, and paused, "Oh wait, you don't remember us do you?" The others began circling the group, Rhino instinctively keeping himself in front of Angelira as the thugs moved around them. "Bolt, I think we put these guys in prison once or twice." Mittens said as they backed up into each other. "Yah, I get that feeling too." he told her, and snapped his jaws at one of them. The thug backed up a little, only realizing that Bolt probably wasn't going to fight at all. "Hehe!" one of them laughed, "Not so tough now huh? Not without all your powers." Mittens hissed at the man as he attempted to come closer, "Eep!" Angelira squeaked as another one took a step closer. "Back off!" they all heard, and turned to find the captain and his crew standing there, each cracking their knuckles or patting something they held in their hands. "Tch, who are you?" the one acting as leader asked. The captain walked forward, "I'm the captain of the S.S. Iron Hawk, and these are my friends." he explained, his crew moving forward, easily outnumbering the thugs. Each one of the punks backed away as they approached. Still trying to act tough, the leader spoke up, "We can take you!" he said and pulled out a switchblade. "Half of these men are drunk, and the other half are just plain pissed." the captain said, "Are you sure you want to fight us?" Thinking with a glare, the thug put his knife back in his pocket and turned to Bolt, "This aint over!" he said and the group ran back into the ally they came from. "Thank you captain!" Mittens said gratefully. "How did you find us?" Bolt asked, and the captain pointed to the building behind him. "That's the bar we all go to for celebration!" he said, "The bartender just happened to be back there when he heard you talking to those thugs, so he came and got us."

Inside the bar, Bolt happily licked up one of his favorite drinks, a virgin pina colada with a hint of pineapple juice mixed in. Mittens shared the drink with him, licking him in the cheek once in a while just for giggles. He actually responded once with a big slobbery dog kiss to her face. Rhino and Angelira both sat on the wine rack close by, each of them drinking an orange soda from two straws. The sailors shouted happily as they all sang songs they knew, each of them with either a full or half full glass of beer in their hands. The captain walked up to the animals, seeming to be the only one still sober, "Feel better my friends?" he asked. "Absolutely!" Mittens said, and quickly received a large lick to her cheek from Bolt, who had just finished the rest of their drink. "You came in at just the right time." Rhino said from the ledge of the rack. Angelira fluttered her wings and landed on top of his empty ball, "Yah, we were just about to get our buts handed to us." she said as she sat down on the round surface. "We have our powers back remember!" Rhino argued. "Oh yah, and Bolt would have been able to protect all of us from a bunch of totally crazy thugs." she snapped, "You and I would have been the most useless in that fight, Rhino, and you know it. I can't carry you when I'm this size and I still don't know when it will wear off!" Rhino pointed a finger at her and opened his mouth, but quickly realized that she spoke the truth, he didn't have his Nano Suit with him.

**End Chapter 9**


	10. Final Chapter Conquered

**Chapter 10 – Conquered**

"Tch!" one of the thugs scoffed, "Cowards!"

"What were we supposed to do?" another of them asked, "There had to be like thirty sailors and only a dozen of us."

"Yah," a third agreed, "and do you know how tough a sailor is? They're really strong and good fighters, trust me, I learned that the hard way!"

"Shut-up!" the first shouted. "Temper, temper!" they all heard a female voice say, followed by an audible purr, "If you don't control it, then let it control you!" When she stepped into the light, Savage, the white Siberian catgirl with white furred bat wings, was revealed. Over her white fur, she wore what looked to be a silver woman's breast plate and some sort of white silky cloth that covered her front and back. "Who the hell are you?" the first thug asked. "I am Savage," she responded as she bowed, letting her hair fall in front of her before they could see down her armor, "and I am here to enslave your entire world." The group of men looked to each other, and laughed, "YOU!?" one of them asked, "All by yourself?" Savage gritted her teeth, and crouched down on all fours, "You don't believe I can accomplish my mission?" she asked. "Not without us!" someone called out causing all of the others to fall silent. She turned her head, watching as a man around the age of twenty one came out, his face sharp and flawless, except for the scar across his cheek, "And we don't like working as slaves!" he said and stretched out his hand, "So why not be partners instead?" he asked. "Partners?" she asked. "Yah!" he reassured, "Taking over the others will be easy if we can get rid of that mangy mutt, Bolt, and his annoying pack of mutant kids." Savage looked to the man, then down to his hand, "This, Bolt…Is he dangerous?" she asked. "More so that you can imagine." the man said. "Then he will be my first sacrifice!" she said and stood up, "Where can I find him?"

"Where do you think they were from Bolt?" Mittens asked as she stopped drinking the beverage. "I don't know, I can remember them, but…not very clearly!" he responded, and the two went back to drinking. "You don't think that was the group of thugs that tried to volunteer for Katzer's experiments do you?" Rhino finally asked as he turned his attention to the pair. Bolt stopped in mid lap, his tongue still dipped into the drink and his eyes opened wide. "Actually, I think that was them!" Mittens said for him, sharing the same realized shock in her eyes. Someone actually wanted to become a mutant?" the captain asked. Angelira simply nodded. She reached for her straw, barely touching it when they heard someone scream from outside. "What the…?" Bolt asked and he dashed outside, Mittens, Rhino and Angelira close behind. Savage stood there at the docks, a short sword in her right hand dripping with the blood of the man lying in front of her. The sword looked to have a separate blade on both sides of what looked to be a vented piece of metal spanning the middle, the handle and hilt didn't seem much different than a roman short sword. "I'm looking for someone named Bolt!" she said and the white shepherd stepped forward. "I am Bolt!" he said. Savage looked surprised, but only for a second, "You, the old Guardian of Power?" she asked and grinned wickedly, "I shall enjoy spilling your guts across this ground!" and with a mighty push of her legs, lunged towards him only to be pushed back by a mighty blast of wind. "It looks like you'll have to wait for that!" Mittens said as she moved to Bolt's side. "Yah!" Rhino challenged as he rolled his ball to Bolt's other side, "Cause **we** aren't going to let you do that!" Savage lifted half of her body up, propping her head on her shoulder as she just lay there, "I see," she said, "Then I guess that I'll just have to take you all out!" Again she lunged forward, one hand on her sword and the other reaching into her breasts. Mittens once again swiped her invisible claws at the alien, but this time was shocked when it did nothing. Savage landed right in front of Bold, and struck the floor where he used to stand.

"Mittens what happened?" He asked as he kept his eyes on Savage from the other end of the dock. "I…I'm not sure!" she said, "They worked before." Savage answered her unspoken questions when she held up a small metallic stick with a shining blue light at the end of it. The stick itself was no longer than Bolt's tail, "Impressed?" Savage asked, "Or scared? This device is from my home world, it reflects all types of elements and is normally used to clear blocked roads, but as you can see, it can also be used as a weapon." Once she finished, she once again lunged at them, again hitting the ground where Bolt stood. She turned her head, finding him and, Mittens and Rhino standing in their original spot. "And this," she said as she lifted the blade, "was used to adhere large objects to the floor of factories!" Bolt looked to her in curiousness, and looked down to his paws. The ground he stood on was covered in a thick sticky tar-like goop and he lifted his paws, trying to free them. Mittens looked down as well, finding her own paws stuck in the goop, and Rhino's ball the same way with the opening door directly above him. "HAH!" Savage laughed, "With you Guardians dead at my feet, the people of this planet will bow down to…" she tried to say, and found the stick in her hand quickly removed with the sound of a gun. It hit the ground hard, shattering the light on top of it, "The people of this planet will fight you, with our own weapons and every ounce of our strength!" she heard the captain say. Savage glanced up at him, anger flowing through her as she looked to the sea captain pointing his pistol at her, "You dare interfere?" she asked. "I dare defy. No one enslaves me and my crew!" he told her and moved only his eyes to see inside the pub. Each of his crew were drunk, either lying on the tables or hanging over chairs, 'At least I can keep them all safe, none need to experience this.' he thought to himself and turned to Savage just as she opened her wings, "You will die for your intrusion, you insolent pig!" she said and let the updraft of air take her up. As she found herself at a decent height, he again pointed his gun at her, and began pulling the trigger. She quickly moved to the side, descending from the lack of updraft and beginning to glide through the air. The captain began moving through towards the docks, aiming carefully before he fired again. Two more times she dodged, only to catch a bullet to her left wing, near her fur lining. Down she went in pain, slamming her shoulder into the ground to protect the rest of her. "No!" she whispered to herself, "I will not be denied my destiny again!" and with a powerful lunge, dashed towards the captain. He fired three more shots, hitting her in the shoulder once and scratching her cheek, and his gun clicked twice before she plunged the sword deep into his chest. "NO!" Bolt shouted as he stopped his struggle to free himself. Savage smiled as she placed her foot on the captains chest, and kicked him off of her blade, making him land in the water below. "No." Bolt whispered, the shock of failure running through his body as he heard Dark Bolt laugh maniacally. Suddenly he blacked out, dropping only his head and he also began to laugh. Mittens looked up at him, a dark fear beginning to envelope her as his fur quickly changed from white to black. The black bolt shaped patch of fur changed, fading to crimson, and when he lifted his eyes, they changed to a menacing red. "At last!" Dark Bolt said. "You!" Mittens said, causing the dog to turn his head, "But you fell from the ship, no one could have survived that!"

"I can't die until we both die, kitten!" he said, and turned is head to the goop at his paws, "I am him after all." As soon as he began to growl deeply, the inside of his mouth lighting up with a green light, Mittens gasped and turned to Rhino, "Get off of the ground!" she yelled, and pulled out her fire claws. Rhino jumped up to one of the vents of his ball, holding on tight with all four of his paws as Dark Bolt released a powerful stream of green fire, hardening and melting the goop all at the same time. Even with her fire claws out, Mittens found the heat of his flame nearly unbearable as it singed her now fireproof fur. "YIKES!" Rhino called out as the flames surrounded his ball, heating the floor of it up to intense temperatures. Dark Bolt finally stopped his stream of flames, and pulled up, breaking the hard casing around his paws easily. The solidified goop cracked and shattered around all three of them, freeing them completely and letting Rhino roll his ball until he was at the ground. "Impossible, you were to be powerless!" Savage said in shock. "I have to thank you alien!" he said, simply refusing to use her name, "If you hadn't sent my other half into shock like that, I wouldn't have been able to get free the way I just did." Savage once again lunged at him, and he caught the blade in his mouth, quickly tossing her behind him. As Savage landed on her back, Angelira made her way to the top of Rhino's ball, "Everyone's been evacuated," she said, "The barkeeper and guards helped."

"I suppose it's been nice knowing you all," Dark Bolt chuckled, and lifted his chin to take a deep breath. Mittens gasped again, switching to her wind claws, just as Dark Bolt let loose a powerful super bark. Savage dodged to the side as Mittens lifted both her and Rhino, Angelira flapping her own wings to fly away from the blast. The entire bar came crashing down as the sound wave slammed into it, Mittens and her friends flying a short ways away, and Savage running back into the streets. Dark Bolt began laughing again, his excitement for destruction rising into a height of euphoria. "BOLT!" Mittens cried, catching the black dog's attention, "Oh, my dear, my name is Dark Bolt!" he said and opened his eyes wide, the middle of them glowing a bright green. Mittens moved as quickly as she could, dodging to one side and flying away from him as he released a few shots of his laser vision. "_Oh!_" Dark Bolt heard his other half groan in his head, and stopped his attacks, staring at the retreating black cat and her friends, "_Mittens?_" Bold asked, and somehow saw her fleeing, "_Mittens!_" he exclaimed, "_What did you do?_"

"Nothing my weaker self!" Dark Bolt lied, "She is simply running from you!"

"_I don't believe that!_" Bolt said. "Oh but watch, I make no attempt to attack her, and yet she continues to run, fleeing out of her own fear!" Dark Bolt argued, "I offered her a chance to accept your sins, me, yet all she did was run. You see the reality now!"

"_No,_" Bolt said in confidence, yet the more he watched his wife run from him, the faster that confidence disappeared, "_No,_" he said trying once more to convince himself that she wasn't running away, "_no._" he whispered as he accepted what Dark Bolt said, finally lying down and just letting the chains hold him in place. Dark Bolt chuckled as he felt his other half finally recede, giving up completely on fighting back. "I have won!" he said to himself and turned to begin hunting the alien girl Savage.

High in the sky, Mittens turned her head away from the black dog as she continued to fly away. "What are you doing?" Rhino asked, "We need to go back and help him!" Mittens simply shook her head, "We can't can we?" Angelira asked, "Not like this." Mittens began to cry, her tears making it very hard to continue flying, even in a straight line, "I swear," she finally said, "I'll get Bolt back, even if I have to fight him to do it. But I'll have to get stronger first!"

**The End**


	11. Author's Note

**Author's note**

Just because it says 'The End' doesn't mean I'm done, I've got another book planned, but that will have to wait until I'm done with another of my current projects. However, I will hold to tradition and give you a taste of what's to come. Call it spoilers or sneak peeks, here is your look into the next book…

"I'm sorry mother," Mike said as he looked down to the floor, "but we'll be stuck in this astral world until Kevin can wake up, and judging by how much of his power was used to get here, that might be a while." Mittens turned her pointed ears down and looked to her paws, "So I'm all that's left to stop him." she whispered. Wolf looked up, seeing his mother so disappointed nearly broke his heart, so he lifted himself up "Listen mother, you can't give up on dad, he needs you more than ever now." he said. "Skylar has lots of books from Neutros, many containing new spells and magic. Maybe you can learn a few from them." Penny suggested. Mittens looked up, hope filling her eyes, "It's the best shot I have!" she said, "Thank you all." and with a flash of light, she woke up, the ruins of her old house surrounding her once again, "Don't worry Bolt, I'm coming!"

There you have it, a clip from the next book, please be patient while the rest of my stories finish up. Gotta Mosey!


End file.
